Regular Article

An observable prerequisite for the existence of persistent currents

¹ Laboratoire de Photonique Quantique et Moléculaire, UMR 8537, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris-Saclay, CentraleSupélec, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, 94235 Cachan, France
² Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, Institut Fresnel, 13013 Marseille, France
³ American University of Technology, AUT Halat, Highway, Lebanon

^a e-mail: jszeftel@lpqm.ens-cachan.fr

Received: 22 January 2019
Published online: 1 April 2019

Abstract

A classical model is presented for persistent currents in superconductors. Their existence is argued to be warranted because their decay would violate the second law of thermodynamics. This conclusion is achieved by analyzing comparatively Ohm’s law and the Joule effect in normal metals and superconducting materials. Whereas Ohm’s law applies in identical terms in both cases, the Joule effect is shown to cause the temperature of a superconducting sample to decrease. An experiment is proposed to check the validity of this work in superconductors of both types I and II.